Commerce Trip Report

My first time playing in LA... I wont go into a day by day account of what happened... but here are some general thoughts from an outsider.


Bad Points:

*1 The players behaviour. The second game I played in (15-30) had 2 absolute maniacs in it. On one particular hand this guy raised in late postion, the button 3 bet. flop came 10 3 2. Check, bet, call. turn came 6 check, bet, raise. The dealer didnt realise there was a raise and dealt the next card (7). Obviously this didnt play and the deck was shuffled and a new river was dealt (ace) The button had AK and the maniac had 10 7. So this mistake cost him a big pot. He screwed his cards up and threw and at the dealer calling her a fucking whore. I have played in the UK for 15 years+ and only seen cards thrown twice, and both of those times they were up in the air not at a dealer. Last week I saw cards thrown at least 10 times. A sorry state of affairs.


*2 The satellites. I felt these were run pretty poorly, with little organisation and no enthusiasm. The dealers often didnt know the structures differed from game to game.


*3 The buffet. Yuck! /images/frown.gif


*4 The charges in the small games. One day I sat in a 6-12 game while waiting for a 20-40 seat. To rake $4 per hand in such a small game is outrageous!


Good Points:


*1 The games. I lost $1500 in a 20-40 game my first session. It was a very tough game with at least 3 accomplished players in it. Perhaps my biggest fault at poker is poor game selection. In the UK we have virtually no choice, so I sit and play in games whether they are good or bad. And I shouldnt have done here. Virtually every other game I sat in was excellent.


*2 The dealers. Were first class with possibly two exceptions. I wouldnt do their job in that casino for all the tea in China.


*3 The Venue. Awesome. Enough said.


*4 The food. See comments for the venue /images/smile.gif


*5 The Commerce laid on a stretch limo for me back to LAX. Great fun!!!


Had a great time... ended the trip losing $1000, but I entered 3 $1000 events, and played 7 $120 satellites with no success. (I made a decision not to do any deals in satellites which cost me dear.. as I got heads up in 3 and lost all of them /images/frown.gif)


Shame I didnt meet any 2+2ers /images/frown.gif


Cheers,


Keith

Keith,


I'm sure you had fun playing, but would you go back there again? Or do you prefer a different venue in the States?


Good Luck


Mark

keith...gr8 post..next time you all oughta try mississippi..no kidding..good ole fashioned southern hospitality is whtcha need..gl guv..

scalf,


I'll agree with you. I think Tunica is a great place to play. Good selection of food and inexpensive room rates.


Good Luck


Mark

"He screwed his cards up and threw and at the dealer calling her a fucking whore."


-Is there any other kind?

yeah, if john cole had been there, he woulda yelled redundancy, the player would havw quit out of embarrassment...lol..gl

Hawk,


I warned you about the players at the Commerce. Maybe we should send all of the Commerce threads to the poker management office for them to consider.

What amazes me is that they don't realize that all they have to do to stop this intolerable player abuse is to NOT tolerate it.

I strongly believe that the players knowing they can act like dogs in the street without any repercussions from management is what perpetuates this deplorable behavior.


In reference to the dealers. I don't believe they are very well trained. One guy was four hundred dollars behind in a 15-30 game and declared this to the dealer who nodded at him. Cards were in the air and this particular player (p1) moved in his last chips. I saw a player (p2) at the opposite end of the table crook his head to see if the guy was all in and then, seeing no chips in front of P1 decided not to raise. P1 saw P2 assessing his ability to withstand a raise but didnt say a word, having already told the dealer and figuring he did his part. I spoke up,

"He's four hundred dollars behind..and had announced it to the dealer." P2 went ballistic..screaming at the dealer for not relaying that the guy had chips on the way to the rest of the table. P1 gave me a look that was so evil, I gasped. And I had to sit next to P1 for the next hour, rolling my eyes as he muttered grief at me about "minding my own business." I finally told him it was my business..I was in the hand up to that point. P2 rushed to my defense, saying I did what was incumbent upon HIM to do and calling him an ass. Things got louder and louder and finally I rose and went upstairs to watch the news. Maybe I was wrong in rectifying the dealer's mistake, but I felt that P2 was at a disadvantage having that information withheld from him because of the dealer acting like p1 telling her he had chips on the way as knowledge for her own personal use. P1 actually approached me later in the day and asked me why I felt the need to do the dealer's job. I told him that I expected the poker table to be a level playing field and P2 not knowing he had chips coming was unfair to him and stacked the deck in P1's favor. His response, "And this affected YOU how exactly?" I had not yet mucked my hand, which I was waiting to do. Maybe he was right. I don't even know anymore.

I do feel that inexperience on the dealers part instigates many player arguments at the table.


Anyway Hawk, glad you didn't get burned too badly in the tournaments. /images/smile.gif

I will be back... If only becuse on the last day (why is it always the last day?) I got the # of the cutest dealer /images/smile.gif


The games were great.


But I will be going to Tunica next year for sure.

I played about 1000 hrs at these clubs in the 80's. I don't remember poor behavior being tolerated.


Its hard for me to believe players can throw cards and swear at the dealers and not get thrown out. I wonder why the change in these past 10 years. I thought rooms were working hard to clean up the image.


Sending these threads to the Commerce might be a good idea.

Not only is throwing cards at the dealer commonplace at Commerce, but they even throw them where they hit the floor. I also saw a guy tear a card in half because it wasnt the river card he wanted. Very sarcastically he told the dealer,

"That card was marked." I have not seen a dealer handle it correctly yet. Either they ignore the behavior (as in the case of the card tearing, the dealer merely called for a new set up) or they start yelling at the player which only ensures a protracted argument at the table. Not once did I see a dealer call the Floor to request that the player be told to correct their behavior. I do not blame the dealers at all, in fact I feel sorry for them. Obviously they realize that the Floor expects them to take the heat. It just makes for an unpleasant experience when people are allowed to be obnoxious all day long...and in the case of some of their regulars, that is exactly what you have to tolerate, rude behavior that is never corrected and so never ends.

I long for the old days at the Mirage where Donna would bar you for 24 hours for asking for a buffet comp twice in one week. /images/smile.gif

Player behavior today, believe it or not, is a whole lot better than five or ten years ago. Management still has a long way to go, but they

are nearly not as tolerant of abusive behavior as

they used to be.


Vegas is even less tolerant than L.A. I remember

at the Mirage about eight years ago when I took

my pocket Aces after getting them cracked and I

flung them like a frisbee across the room. That

might have been the first time I ever acted like

that, and I was quickly told by management that

if I ever did that again I would be asked to leave. That type of behavior was very common

in L.A. at the time. Rarely do I see that in LA

and if done the player is quickly reprimanded by

management and if he repeats the behavior he is

told to leave. We still have a long way to go.


Bruce

So when are you going to come check out the new room at hollywood? I miss watching you wrap a straight around pocket twos in a way only you can do. /images/smile.gif